Split
by Chaoslover43
Summary: Kyubi alters Naruto's personality at birth to create a more powerful host due to his own sense of vanity but things do not go as planned... That is, until the genin exam. Features an extreme deconstruction of the kage bunshin technique and a less unintelligent way of fighting for our favorite blond hero.
1. The Genin Exam

**Disclaimer: **Nothing is mine except my ideas and my words.

A complete AN is at the end of the chapter as it is quite long, but this is important. This is a rewrite of an old fic that is still up. If you're interested you can view its humble and significantly more erratic origins before reading on.

.oOo.

Iruka, the ever stoic instructor, sat calmly at the head of his classroom, his students arrayed in a tittering conglomerate in front of him. It was their last year at the academy and many were eager to grow past that stage of their lives. More, though, were anxious over their ability to pass the test, simple as it was, that would mark their passage to genin-hood.

"Look, the idiot's here!" Kiba, a member of the number unconcerned about the exam, shouted as a small group including one Naruto Uzumaki filtered in. "You pumped to fail again..." he continued at high volume before his voice slowly trailed off as he got a good look at the boy he was addressing.

In stark contrast to usual he looked almost aloof, face essentially blank if being generous, surly if not. He was out of his trademark orange and had on instead a pair of black cargo shorts and a dark jacket, with a lighter woven-cloth belt threading the shorts' many loops. In addition to his two navy pouches of basic ninja equipment, his back carried a small, lighter colored pack with its thin straps pulled tight. With everything else about him so toned down, even his so-blonde-it's-yellow hair seemed less bright than usual. It helped that its interminable spikiness had finally had a comb run through it for the first time that morning.

He gave a small smile, far removed from his usual dopey grin or swaggering smirk, at Kiba's words. "Well, no, I wouldn't really say I'm 'pumped' to fail, since I won't really be failing this year. Thanks for asking though. Really appreciate that," he said with just enough bite to convey insincerity.

Bemused by his lack of boisterousness Kiba let the exchange end there. Not before, however, his shout had drawn the attention of the students who had already arrived, including all of the heirs of Konoha's most influential clans, as well as one Sakura Haruno. Their collective attentions were then held permanently by Naruto's uncharacteristic appearance.

Now, the boy was not well liked by any stretch, however, if you remember but two people from your class at the academy, they will be your best friend and the most annoying guy there. Naruto generally fit neatly into the second category and, as such, was very well known among his classmates.

Unsurprisingly every conversation in the classroom became an exchange of comments on the formula: "The hell's up with Naruto?" "He looks so different!" "Where's the kill-me orange?" "Without that stupid freakin' outfit he's actually kinda cute...".

The last was said verbatim under one Ino Yamanaka's breath, to her eternal regret. "The hell, Ino-pig, are you talking about NARUTO?!" Sakura asked disbelievingly, glaring at her friend-turned-rival from her place leaning on a desk chair beside her, "He may look a little better on the outside, but I highly doubt he's any less annoying than usual," she finished scornfully.

Ino, leaning against her own desk chair, did her best to salvage the pieces of her comment. "Yeah, well, I have taste unlike you Forehead. He definitely looks a LOT better on the outside today than he did yesterday," she said snootily.

"Mm hm, as much as I appreciate the compliments, girls, I'm gonna have to ask you two to move. You're blocking the only seat left," Naruto's voice pointed out from behind the two.

Ino's face turned a light shade of pink while Sakura snickered, fairly unembarrassed by her own less than complimentary comment even if it had ceded his looks had improved. Both girls did notice, however, that the room had filled up while they had commented back and forth. While many boys, and a couple girls, were perched on the desks, it was clear that each seat but the one at the end of their row was 'claimed' with their chair-leaning blocking access to the free one. With only the minimum twenty seven seats in the classroom to begin with Naruto had little place else to go.

The girls took their seats sheepishly, noticing Iruka had turned his attention to them as well, clearly waiting to begin. Naruto took the free seat next to Sasuke's, as had been decided in an earlier fiery debate between the two girls on Sasuke's other side. Because of their fierce rivalry, it was understood that no girl could take the seat next to Sasuke that was NOT occupied by the winner of said debate.

As Iruka finally stood and called for everyone's attention students filtered off desks and away from friends until all were seated normally. He began to speak, explaining the details of the day's tests though Sasuke was apparently uninterested in the instructions. "Explain, dead-last," he said tersely, having been observing the blond sitting beside him bemusedly for the past few moments.

Naruto slowly turned toward Sasuke, shook his head, and turned back toward Iruka. Clearly he WAS interested in what the man had to say.

Despite the following he'd earned among the class's girls for his stoic bearing and general gruffness, Sasuke was actually rather a short fuse. He growled audibly upon being rebuffed, though he managed to catch himself and turn the noise into a dismissive 'Hn.' before turning away from the blond.

The two had resumed attention just in time to catch the tail end of Iruka's comments. "... And if you succeed there as well you will be a proud member of Konoha's genin corps! So, let's begin with the written exam."

At the conclusion of the first sentence the boys heard, Mizuki, another of the academy instructors, began passing out the test papers. A single sheet front and back containing twenty questions, the genin written exam was a tool intended as a straightforward judge of both what students had learned in class and raw intelligence. The front contained questions confined to things learned, including topics ranging from Konoha's history to the nature of chakra, while the back contained questions that were either only tangentially related to the course material or complex logistical problems. The former tested one's retention and one's abilities to learn in a classroom setting, while the latter tested their analytical skills and raw intellect. The results allowed the instructors to work with Jonin-senseis and the Hokage to form the most balanced teams possible, matched up with the most suitable teachers.

"Alright boys and girls. You'll have sixty minutes to complete the exam. Not all questions are created equal, but they're all weighted equally, so be smart about this. No work will get you no credit. Good luck, you may begin." Iruka read off in a fairly monotonic voice once all the papers had been distributed. It was clear he'd given the spiel a number of times.

The room slowly filled with the sound of scratching pencils as the students struggled with their tests. After about twenty minutes had passed Sasuke looked up from his completed front side, glanced absentmindedly to his left, and scoffed. Naruto's test was sitting askew on his desk, though it was full of tiny neat writing, and he himself was sitting, relaxed but not slouching, and staring off into space. _Typical failure, guessing right off the bat, _Sasuke sneered internally, and busied himself with the other side of the test.

Forty minutes later Iruka called time and, with the help of Mizuki, gathered the tests. "Alright boys and girls, you know the plan. Start heading outside and we'll get the weapons test started," he prodded as he circled the room grabbing papers.

With an audible sigh the class rose and filed out of the room toward the outdoor practice area, discussing the test the whole way. Iruka met them out there shortly and began to explain the next test in greater depth. "Alright, we have a course set up out here to test your weapon skills. This will be a more complex examination so PAY ATTENTION!" A couple of bored students snapped to attention at Iruka's yell, "Thank you. Now, you all see this section of trees here, where we used to do our basic stealth exercises? We've erected a number of three ring targets of varying sizes in varying locations within the area. You will receive fifteen kunai and fifteen shuriken in a weapons pouch, and you'll be led further in where there are circles marked in red. You will stand in your circle, we will call time, and you'll have five minutes to locate and strike as many targets as you can. While you have thirty weapons, that in no way indicates the number of targets in there. One weapon per target, and you may use the weapons provided in any ratio you like," he finished more calmly, "Any questions?"

None were forthcoming so Iruka dismissed them for free time directing them to come when they heard their names. "Alright, we're doing this alphabetically in groups of three. Aburame, Akimichi, Arai, you guys are first!" Iruka said.

The three boys reported to the front of the group, were led off into the trees, and left behind a group that began to relax. Mizuki had been left to watch them and it seemed there was to be a fairly long break for most.

.oOo.

Shikamaru had just set himself up under the tree with the swing hanging from it, eyes closed, when a shadow fell over him. He cracked one eye and tried to identify the person standing over him based upon its shadowy outline. "Troublesome..." he muttered under his breath as he rubbed his eyes, "So bright out here."

When his eyes adjusted some to the light he could see the amused face of one Naruto Uzumaki looking down at him. "Ugh, what do you want Naruto? I was going to nap my way through this whole exam,"

Naruto just flashed him one of his small smiles and pulled the pack off his back as he sat himself down beside the dark haired boy. "Fun as that sounds Shika, you're sure you don't want to play shogi with me?" he asked as he pulled a folding magnetic shogi board out of his pack.

Shikamaru seemed to perk up a bit, lifting himself into a sitting position, before turning narrowed eyes on the blond. "You're not exactly the shogi type, are you Naruto?" he asked, suspicious curiosity in his words.

Naruto kept his eyes forward as he seemed to let the question hang between them for a few moments, before turning to face his classmate. "It sure seems that way doesn't it? Give me a try, I might surprise you. I am the number one surprising ninja of Konoha after all," he said smiling fully for once, almost blindingly.

Shikamaru sighed hugely. "What a drag... Why do I feel like you don't mean that in the same way you used to? Don't answer that. Fine, let's play. It'll be quick."

Naruto allowed himself a small smirk. "Really now? I appreciate the confidence, means you're at least not taking your usual approach to things."

"Troublesome..." he muttered again, taking a few moments to orient the board as it should be and set up the pieces, "White moves first."

Naruto thought a moment and carefully moved a pawn forward a single space. Shikamaru responded in kind with one of his own pawns in another file. Minutes passed with the two players trading moves and Shikamaru's expression slowly deepening into a scowl. Despite his attitude, the boy was clearly winning and Naruto looked resigned to a loss, his clear numerical disadvantage evident.

Shikamaru made a final move and declared triumphantly, "Checkmate," seeming inordinately pleased with himself.

Naruto flashed another small smile. "Ah, I lose. How troublesome."

Shikamaru glared at him, "You know, you put up a lot of fight for a kid who supposedly has the worst grades in the class and already failed twice."

Naruto leaned back against the tree and surveyed the game board again, seeming to analyze the moves that led to his defeat. Finally he looked back up to the other boy's face. "Shogi isn't the academy work. Your grades aren't close to the top of the class either, anyway," he said slowly.

Shikamaru stared blankly at the blond. He was saved from the surreal conversation with the boy he'd written off as an amusing and tolerable idiot long ago by his own name. "... and Nara. You guys are next, come on," Iruka said as he exited the forest to pick up the next group.

Shikamaru dragged himself to his feet with a slant-ways look back at the suddenly enigmatic blond, before slouching his way over to their instructor. Naruto simply smiled at his retreating back as he packed up his board. There wouldn't be time for another full game.

His opponent gone, Naruto callously took his vacated spot under the tree and stared upward. The shape of a wispy dragon assaulting an ethereal castle with wispy, white blasts of fire drifted across the sky, slowly morphing into other less describable shapes.

Before long Shikamaru returned to the spot, glanced down, took in Naruto's eyes locked onto the sky, and sighed. "What a drag..." he said, taking a seat in the old swing.

He couldn't hold in a slight smirk though. This strange boy that came in the guise of Naruto was a marked improvement on the old model.

A companionable silence developed from there, Shikamaru never being one to start a conversation on so perfect a just-barely-partly-cloudy day. After the clouds that had initially been floating into sight over the high walls of the academy to the right passed out of sight over the trees to the left, Iruka finally called the last three names. "Alright, now, Uzumaki, Yamanaka, Zenigata, come with me and then we can move on to the ninjutsu portion of the test," he said, boredom creeping into his tone.

Apparently the evaluation of academy students was not particularly exciting. Shikamaru watched Naruto walk into the forest with the other two students and their teacher and couldn't help but wonder if he'd somehow become a better ninja with whatever change had allowed him to sit still for longer than five minutes.

.oOo.

The academy classroom was again filled with tittering students after Iruka led them back inside. He didn't let them devolve into conversation for long. "Alright, I know you guys are excited to talk about the weapons test. You weren't expecting something like that and you want to know how many targets your friends hit yadda yadda, but we've got a busy day, so can it wait for at least another hour or two?" he queried generously.

"Good, now, the ninjutsu portion of the test is simple. You've learned more than three jutsu here at the academy, we know, but these are the most essential, if not the easiest. You are to perform the bunshin, the kawarimi, and the henge techniques. At least three bunshin, a battle ready replacement, and a transformation that at least stands up to a casual glance will be necessary to earn a passing grade. Remember, this doubles as a chakra capacity examination. Appearing winded after performing these three techniques one after the other will not help your score. Mizuki and I will be testing you two at a time, it shouldn't take long, maybe half an hour. Good luck everyone!" he finished cheerfully.

The test was very well known even among academy students. The jutsu in question had long been referred to as the Academy Three, complete with aurally discernible capital letters. As such no one was surprised or intimidated by this test, as some had been by the weapons examination.

Sasuke heard his teacher's instructions peripherally, but his attention was primarily focused on the blond now sitting in the rightmost seat in the back. As Iruka began to call names he stared at him, wondering where the annoying bastard everyone failed to tolerate had gone. He looked away subtly when their eyes briefly met.

He couldn't explain why the blond's odd changes seemed so worthwhile to him. He prided himself on his disinterest in his classmates. It wasn't like there was much chance any of them would amount to anything after all. Perhaps it was the careless way Naruto had dismissed his attempts to understand his change?

Regardless, he found himself tabulating the differences in his mind. He'd spied him sitting companionably with Shikamaru under a tree cloud-watching during the weapons test. He'd noted the vastly changed wardrobe. He'd observed the muted facial expressions. He'd even watched most of a surprisingly competitive shogi match.

"Uchiha!"

Sasuke nearly jumped in surprise when he heard his own name called. Embarrassed to be caught so deeply in thought he let out a slightly higher pitched 'hn' than usual and sauntered to the front to be examined.

He was led to a room just off the classroom to perform the techniques and did so unthinkingly. While those not destined to become full fledged ninja might have some difficulty with the techniques, they were trifling to a genius like him. Or he thought so at least.

By the time he returned, the blond was gone, clearly being tested by the teacher who had not tested him. He smirked, didn't matter how different he was, he was still the dead last. Probably still couldn't make anything more than a half dead clone.

With a small effort he pushed the blond out of his mind and resumed his seat to wait out the last few tests.

.oOo.

"Alright class, we're almost done, all that's left is the taijutsu examination. Regrettably this last test will also be the longest. We have to do this one by one as it wouldn't be a very thorough and fair evaluation if we did it any other way. We need one teacher freed up to observe, and there's just no way we're going to let you spar each other," Iruka observed the bored faces arrayed around him and grinned, "I promise this is my last monologue. Not my fault these tests are complicated. You do want to be NINJA right? It's not a simple job," he explained from his position in front of a large, clear circle of dirt.

The students all nodded, stood still, or zoned out completely as usual and Iruka just sighed. _Let's just get this over with, _he thought darkly. He addressed his assistant, "Mizuki, do you want to observe or spar?"

"Mmm, I'll watch, if that's okay with you?"

"Yeah, whatever's fine. I'm just really ready to be done here for today. The kids seem to have pretty much lost interest," Iruka stated somewhat dejectedly as he surveyed the crowd of bored faces arrayed on the opposite side of the circle from the teachers. "Okay, Aburame, come on!"

One by one Iruka fought his pupils. He only blocked or countered, as was standard practice for an evaluator, though that still rendered him in considerable pain due to the styles of some of Konoha's clans. "Great job, Hinata," Iruka bit out through gritted teeth as he tried not to cry out in pain over the twelve shut tenketsu on his arms.

Finally, the man's favorite student was up. He'd noticed the changes in the boy, his new clothes, his mannerisms, his uncharacteristic comments. He'd wanted to talk to him as class had started, but things had been rather hectic with the final exam that day, and it had seemed unprofessional to address him in front of everyone else.

Iruka smiled reflexively as the boy stepped into the ring. "Good luck, Naruto," he said warmly as he slid into his stance, only to be surprised as the boy smiled at him and slid into his own.

Iruka had always assumed Naruto simply lacked the aptitude for taijutsu. His form had been that of a common brawler, and while he moved with exceptional speed and struck with exceptional force compared to some of his classmates his lack of refinement led to his loss in most spars. Especially those against his clan-member classmates. Simply put, the boy didn't know how to use his speed and strength to his advantage. He would strike aggressively, leaving himself open to powerful counters and leg sweeps, fighting with a nearly criminal lack of strategy.

Now, while it clearly was not natural to him, Naruto had settled into a picture perfect basic academy taijutsu stance.

"Sensei?"

Naruto's voice broke Iruka out of his reverie. "Oh, of course Naruto, let's begin!"

Naruto flashed him another small smile and charged him, abandoning his perfect form. Iruka sighed softly. Perhaps that form had been just a fluke?

He had little time to think though, as Naruto was soon on him, throwing a wild right hook toward his face. Just as Iruka was about to block the wild punch Naruto lowered himself, tucked the fist into his shoulder, and transformed the wild attack into a textbook elbow sweep to Iruka's side.

However the strike was loose and a bit slower than Iruka knew Naruto was capable of. It was clear it was an unpracticed move. He was able to back up a half step to avoid the blow.

Naruto grunted as he spun with the missed shot, following it up with a left leg spinning kick to the same spot.

Again it was a good attack, a textbook example of how moves should be strung together, but poorly executed. Naruto hadn't braced his standing leg very well, his balance was off, and the kick came out a bit weaker because of it. Iruka was able to flip over Naruto's head and land behind him, sweeping his standing leg out.

Naruto collected himself well though, placing his left palm on the ground and spinning with his momentum to land safely in a crouch. As soon as his second foot touched he pushed off hard with it, quickly closing the distance and launching a series of quick jabs at his teacher.

Being a chunin he was able to fairly effortlessly block the punches, but they were thrown with much better form than Naruto's usual looping, lumbering, powerful blows, even if they did lack some of that power.

Just as Naruto was going for a more meaningful leg strike Mizuki called time. He was left breathing hard with his leg extended about six inches from Iruka's hip.

"Very good Naruto, I'm impressed!" Iruka extolled him, "I wasn't sure you had it in you!"

Naruto simply absorbed the praise with a small smile, and rejoined his classmates. They too had noticed Naruto's fighting style over the past years. Sparring matches were commonplace in the academy syllabus and the blond's lack of finesse was somewhat infamous.

He was now receiving some very funny looks over his sudden flowering into a passable taijutsu student.

Iruka himself had been rather taken aback by it. "Oh, yeah, right then. Um, Yamanaka you're next," he said, shaking himself from his slight stupor.

The last couple fights were unremarkable, with everyone performing as expected. The taijutsu evaluation as part of the final exam was somewhat of a formality, as taijutsu was a heavy focus of the academy curriculum and the teachers were very familiar with their students' skill levels. Though occasionally some would perform much better or worse than expected on the test, so it was still run. It WAS ninja school and some extent of subterfuge and misdirection was present.

As the last student exited the ring Iruka nodded at Mizuki and began to speak. "Alright everyone, I appreciate your attention and cooperation today. I know the final exam is long and somewhat grueling, but I have high expectations for this group! I'm fairly sure you've all passed from what I've seen, and I look forward to handing you your hitai-ate and recognizing you as shinobi of the leaf! Mizuki and I have a lot of grading to do, however, and we'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow for the results and the hitai-ate presentation. Dismissed!"

A loud cheer rose up from the assembled crowd, which carried on for a few moments. Many students were celebrating years or even a decade of work and were understandably pleased. After a short time spent milling around and socializing with their fellow students, most dispersed in twos and threes to celebrate with a notable few, including Naruto, striking off on their own.

Iruka turned to Mizuki and gave him a grimace. "Ugh, I'd wanted to get the testing over with, but I don't think we're moving on to anything better," he said unhappily.

Mizuki mirrored his look and nodded miserably. "Yeah, twenty seven full academy evaluations to look over... I'm not a big fan of exam day," he replied in a similar tone.

Iruka wasn't one to shirk work, however, and dove into the marked scores and notes efficiently if not enthusiastically. After half an hour they'd managed to grade all the written exams, and simply had to go over the other sections, which had been marked during administration. "What do you think about Aburame Shino, Mizuki? Perfect ninjutsu execution, near flawless written exam, decent taijutsu and weapon skills. Definitely above average at least."

"Eh, he's a clan kid. What do you expect? He'll go to a tracking oriented team for sure, with his family's specialty," Mizuki responded not unkindly.

The evaluations continued on in that vein for over an hour, with Iruka summarizing the results and a short discussion ensuing. The evaluations of the seven children of established clans were the shortest, being mere formalities. Failing to pass the clan children would be a political disaster, regardless of their skill levels. The clans just had too much sway. Civilian students were considered much more closely. Generally the academy was the only training they got, and as such there was a significant risk they weren't good enough to graduate. This was a good year, however, and Iruka and his assistant had yet to dismiss anyone.

Finally they came to Naruto's set. "Hmm, there are some notable differences from his two past failures... Passable taijutsu, very unpolished, but technically correct now. Great speed and strength, but that's always been noted," he said, and then paused for a long moment, "A perfect ninjutsu score? He's always had some talent with henge and kawarimi, but since when can he even perform the bunshin jutsu, Mizuki?"

Mizuki took on a contemplative look. "Yes, I was surprised myself. When I asked him to perform the technique, he concentrated for a long moment... And suddenly the room was full of illusions. Probably at least fifty, but it was hard to make a headcount. I asked if he could maybe tone it down and he smiled at me and said he couldn't. I didn't know what to make of it, but he exceeded the requirements by a long shot, and his other two techniques were as good as ever, so I had to give him the perfect score. It's not that weird though, thirteen out of twenty seven students got perfect scores. Ninjutsu always goes well though, you know that. The students practice them tirelessly."

Iruka sat in thought for a few beats before continuing. "Ignoring inexplicable clone creating prowess... What's this?! He got a perfect score on the written test?" Iruka's eyes bulged out as he scanned Naruto's exam paper.

He flitted from question to question but could not find a fault with any of Naruto's answers. His understanding and explanation of the nature of chakra was more advanced than anyone's save Hinata's. That including the girl with the highest average written exam score in the class, Haruno Sakura. One couldn't really expect to understand more about chakra than a Hyūga, so effectively Naruto's was the best answer given.

While Iruka was looking at the test Mizuki spoke up. "Yeah, I graded that one. The amount he recalled from class was truly impressive considering how terribly he's done on all other written exams we've given. I was most surprised by how well he did on the IQ kinda stuff on the back though. I didn't think the kid had anything between his ears."

Iruka frowned and flipped the page in Naruto's exam folder. "Well let's just keep going. His weapons results are at least close to expected, about average a bit above... Hmm, this is weird. His accuracy wasn't as good as I expected so his score shouldn't be so high, but... Wow, he hit almost all the targets!" Iruka said slowly, before flipping through all the other files.

He turned to Mizuki in some shock. "The only two people that hit more targets than Naruto were Sasuke and Hinata. Can't really count Hinata since she could see through the trees, and Sasuke's been the undisputed best weapons user in the class since day one. Jeez. His accuracy really wasn't that great though... Even worse than usual..." Iruka trailed off.

More softly to himself he asked, "Naruto... What's happened to you?"

Mizuki, who had very keen hearing, answered. "Iruka, I wouldn't pay it much thought. I know you always had a soft spot for the kid, but this is common enough. There's always one every couple of years who thinks they're better off being underestimated for a while. You should be glad he turned out to have some skill after all!"

Iruka nodded slowly but made no reply. As much as that seemed to explain things neatly... There was no reason his accuracy would decrease if he'd been hiding skills. And if he'd known the proper forms all along his attacks would be much more polished. He racked his brain for an explanation with all the factors in mind, but no single thing gained prominence that explained a change of such magnitude and complexity.

"Iruka? Do we pass him this year, or not?" Mizuki asked sharply, as if he'd already asked at least once.

Iruka jumped before replying. "Oh, yeah, sorry, I kind of zoned out. Well, we can't exactly fail him with two perfect scores regardless of his other results, which really weren't too shabby. I just wonder why he chose his third time through the exam to pass, practically with flying colors!"

Mizuki just shrugged and let Iruka's statements hang. Iruka stared at Naruto's file for another moment and then shook his head. "Alright Uzumaki Naruto. I guess you pass this time," he said tossing the file into the rather full pile of passes.

.oOo.

AN: I apologize for any weird POV stuff. If anything is unclear, leave me a review with your questions and I'll try to revise it or explain it to you. I wanted to show Naruto by using a few others' POVs, before switching to primarily his POV. The first scene is the most confusing as it kind of bounces around third person omniscient style, but the rest is fairly straightforward third person limited, and the character it's limited to is usually pretty clear I thought.

Other important notes include: This fic will be mildly AU with no one specific diversion point, including a fair number of re-imaginings of Kishimoto's concepts in addition to numerous concepts Kishimoto never hit on. It will do its best to contain as few pairings as possible, and certainly none involving Naruto. Anything that looks like a pairing is likely a joke, or just a subtle bit of characterization. It ignores many things post time-skip for simplicity's sake. It attempts to avoid as much complex Japanese as possible, though I prefer Japanese names for most things, (kunai, shuriken, ninja/shinobi, kekkei genkai, henge, bunshin, kawarimi, jutsu etc.) because really I don't know any, and I'd butcher anything I put in. If I mess up anything I do put in, let me know in a quick review, that's embarrassing ;)

Of some note is the fact that Roku Naruto by Anthurak The Chaos Lord heavily influenced the first iteration of the fic, and this fic will still draw a tad from that one, though less than the previous story as I don't really recall exactly what was in Roku Naruto. However I much more recently read A Drop of Poison by Angel of Snapdragons and I feel some ideas from there will end up in here as well. I simply had a very similar vision, so far as the scope of kage bunshin is concerned.

Finally, I apologize for the length of this note. It's the intro of the story and I just want to keep a few things straight. Notes should be more minimal in future chapters, and will almost always occur at the end.

Next chapter in two weeks.


	2. Shadow Clone Jutsu

**Disclaimer: **Nothing is mine, not even one of the many blond kids.

.oOo.

**Hurry up you goddamned brat, **the demon fox's rumbling voice reverberated through Naruto's skull, surprising him.

Ever since he'd gained control of his body and the other had been... Disposed of as far as he could tell, he'd been free from the kyūbi's voice. He'd almost begun to hope that the fox simply couldn't communicate with the personality controlling the body. He'd certainly never noticed any sign that the other knew the kyūbi was there.

**Walk faster, runt. I've wasted a lot on you, so get your ass down to the academy and get that stupid bandana you humans are so obsessed with, **his voice grating and nearly unbearable in Naruto's mind. He almost stumbled as he made his way through the streets of Konoha to the academy, walking faster unconsciously as if trying to escape the overbearing presence beating down on his mind.

Though a few more rumbling comments disrupted his thoughts, he was able to make it to the academy without too much trouble. He easily integrated into the large crowd that was making its way past the school's main doors and to the area behind. Apparently ninja graduation was a bigger deal than Naruto had realized, as some of the students seemed to have brought along entire extended families. There were well over two hundred people milling around behind the large building. **Bah, you're like ants. Swarming over each other like this. And what is this, a celebration of an accomplishment that every single person who attempted achieved? How honorable.**

Naruto couldn't help but snicker. The comment had been physically painful for him to hear inside his mind, but for a malevolent chakra beast, the fox could be almost amusing. **Are you really LAUGHING right now?! Just because I can't hear your thoughts anymore doesn't mean I can't tell when you're patronizing me! I'll turn your entire being to ash you insolent whelp!**

Naruto slackened his face and strode into the crowd. He couldn't show the fox any reaction, or the bastard would just keep filling his head with painful noise. If he didn't ever respond the beast might stop blathering his angry, meaningless words. He was almost like a crotchety old grandfather who felt the need to complain because his life had left his control.

Luckily for him Iruka chose that moment to begin the ceremony. "Graduating genin, proud parents, family members, and teachers. We are gathered here today to celebrate the graduation of these proud students from mere academy pupils to full fledged shinobi!" Iruka intoned, solemnly at first, but with great warmth by the last words.

As he spoke Naruto and the other graduates had been funneled to the front. "Now, children of the leaf, step forward and claim your Hitai-ates! Aburame Shino!" Iruka nearly shouted, somehow managing to still appear completely dignified.

Shino stepped forward, took the headband, and donned it in an imperious manner to the applause of all assembled. Brief part complete he faded back into the crowd of excited now-genin. All in all he'd taken under a minute.

The whole ceremony only ended up taking about fifteen minutes with Naruto called to collect his own headband toward the end.

While the ceremony was short, those gathered showed no predilection toward leaving. The families and students simply gathered into small groups and began to converse. All signs pointed to their being there for quite some time. Naruto began to feel quite awkward standing alone amongst these obviously connected people. He'd never been one to feel sorry for himself, but he recognized that he had no one to share this moment with who didn't have other, grander duties to attend to.

Having only been realized as an actual human being less than twenty four hours prior, Naruto felt understandably separate even from those who had shown the other kindness like the teacher Iruka and the Hokage Sarutobi.

He snorted internally. For one who claimed not to spend time feeling sorry for himself he sure had been standing alone in a large crowd introspecting like it was going out of style.

He turned to leave but before he'd even left the courtyard another had fallen into step beside him. Mizuki, the other academy teacher. "Hey there Naruto. We were really impressed by your results on the exam, you know. Some of the best in the class. Makes one wonder why you were the bottom of the class for three straight years..." the man said.

Naruto didn't flinch at what sounded strangely like an accusation. While he'd prefer no one ever understand the reason he was not the other, it wasn't exactly the first thought anyone would reach. Or the second. Or even the last. It was simply inconceivable.

Flinching in front of this man would not be acceptable anyway. In fact, Naruto gave the man a small smile only through sheer force of will. This man was a significant reason why he wasn't stronger than he was. He'd taught the other the forms which he based his brawler taijutsu on. He'd even instilled in him the belief that aggression was the shortcut to victory in any fight. Beliefs didn't affect him now, but his complete lack of muscle memory did. The only reason he knew the proper forms at all was because he'd watched, out of the eyes of the other, talented students of the academy style. Mostly clan kids who came from clans that didn't bother creating their own taijutsu style like the Yamanakas.

In the past he had watched the other fight with his butchered style and carefully planned how he would have handled the fight, using the proper forms. His analysis had culminated with his efforts against Iruka the day before. He was rather proud of the spar he'd managed to put together despite very little practice in said proper forms.

"Naruto?"

Naruto was jerked from his reverie by the sound of his own name. He realized that Mizuki had put that question to him practically a full minute ago, and they'd walked a block while he'd been lost in thought. "Mmm, yeah," he answered noncommittally.

Mizuki gained an almost strained look on his face. Like this encounter was planned, and was not going according to plan. "Er, your intentions are your business of course, but as your teacher I just thought I ought to be looking out for you. You have a lot of time to make a name for yourself, but it's very helpful to graduate closer to the top of your class. It affects the makings of the teams you see," he said smiling helpfully.

He was obviously lying. Iruka had made a comment months before about team formation. He'd said that teams were usually put together with the hopes that they would develop together to serve a particular purpose. A tracking/reconnaissance team, a hunter/capture team, etc. More importantly though, he'd made it a point to mention that one of the teams in every graduating class was the top rookie, the dead last, and the person with the most exemplary theory scores.

Well, maybe it wasn't actually that obvious. That was a single piece of knowledge that Mizuki had probably known and forgotten years ago. Naruto knew it though, and he knew that graduating at the very bottom would actually be quite to his advantage, earning him two very talented teammates. Though in practice he knew that meant Sasuke Uchiha and Haruno Sakura. One was talented but came with a lot of baggage, while the other was intelligent but, at the moment, supremely weak as a fighter. She'd been one of the few the other had managed to beat in spars, as she wasn't able to handle his superior speed despite his unpolished technique.

"Naruto, are you listening?"

Again Naruto's thoughts were disrupted by the silver haired man walking beside him. He cursed internally. He had to stop analyzing everything the man was saying and focus on making the proper replies to keep the man talking. Even if he was a despicable human being who had cost him strength as a ninja, he might be offering something useful. "Oh, sorry, Mizuki-sensei. I was just lost in thought. I'm just so glad to finally have become a ninja. I guess all my hard work and dedication just paid off all at once," he said brightly, giving the man a megawatt smile.

Mizuki gave him an odd look. "Er, yeah, like I was saying. It really is in your best interest to graduate at a higher position within your class. Even your exemplary results on the final leave you at the bottom of the rankings. Not exactly impressive. I can help you though. We have a special extra credit assignment for students like you. It's a secret practical that evaluates your stealth, mission-readiness, and ability to learn. If you do well on it I can bump up your class rank! Wouldn't you rather be rookie of the year than your friend Sasuke?"

Naruto snickered internally at the man's look. It had been priceless, and just being able to disconcert the man gave him a sort of vindictive pleasure. His words though... They were worth considering. There was absolutely no way what he was discussing was legitimate. Things simply didn't work that way. No one special assignment could allow him to usurp the Uchiha's position. It was the exact sort of ridiculous thing that the other would have accepted without question. In other words, Mizuki thought he was still an idiot with a grudge against the natural shinobi who kept outclassing him. Perfect. He pasted a foxy grin on his face before replying, "Would that really be possible, Mizuki-sensei?! That bastard never deserved his place anyway! Er, forget I said that word, but he was always thinking he was better than all of us... What do I have to do to put him in his place?"

Mizuki's returned smile was just a shade too satisfied for his intentions to be good. That suited Naruto just fine though. He had no doubt he could come out of whatever this was smelling like roses. "Well you see Naruto, there's a certain scroll that the third keeps in his personal rooms in the Hokage tower..."

.oOo.

"Naruto? My boy, what are you doing in here so late? Don't you have to report to the academy for team assignments in the morning?" the third asked curiously, addressing the blond who had walked into his rooms unannounced.

Naruto grinned back at the man, made a single hand sign, and was instantly replaced by a beautiful and thoroughly naked woman. The other's stupid jutsu would actually work very well here, knowing how the man who'd shown the other kindness felt about attractive women.

Somewhat predictably, the old man took one look at the sexy figure bent over suggestively in front of him and weakly passed out. Naruto helped himself to the large scroll behind the man and stealthily exited the tower.

Being careful not to give away his presence, Naruto made his way as quickly as possible towards a section of woods that contained the location at which Mizuki had told him they should meet. It was extremely important that Naruto not get caught with the scroll now as he was nearly positive what he was doing was treasonous. He knew that the only way he was getting out of it in one piece was if he was able to land the blame squarely on Mizuki's shoulders by playing the naive academy student card. That would be rather hard to do if he was caught with the forbidden scroll in the middle of a Konoha street.

Thankfully the tower was very close to the edge of the forest, and Naruto was afforded cover very quickly. With the Hokage likely unconscious for the next hour or so Naruto knew no one would be pursuing him now.

The risk was absolutely worth it though. Non-basic jutsu were hard to come by in the ninja world, almost always having to be learned from an associated clan or made up on one's own. This scroll, though, supposedly contained some of Konaha's most powerful techniques. The fact that he, a genin, had heard of it likely meant it was just a decoy to distract traitors and idiotic enemies that contained some merely moderately powerful techniques, but Naruto didn't care. All he had was the Academy Three. Any additional technique was sure to be priceless.

Plus, Mizuki was likely a traitor _and_ an idiotic enemy of Konoha, so really Naruto was doing his village a favor by committing this treason. He smirked. He loved that sort of reasoning.

A small, run down looking shack came into his view, and he broke off his thoughts to drop out of the trees and into the clearing it occupied. This was the place Mizuki had described to him. Carefully he removed the large scroll that he had slung over his back in the Hokage's rooms. He unfurled it the first few feet and began scanning techniques.

To his great disappointment he discovered that all of the techniques were simply names and the description of the hand seals required to perform them. Worse yet, a large number of the 'techniques' were simply complex, esoteric seal designs, with sealing being a discipline he was nearly completely unfamiliar with as it wasn't taught almost at all within the academy.

He cursed internally and began scanning the list of techniques for those with the fewest hand seals. It was a clumsy way to organize, but he knew his limitations. Most of the techniques in this scroll likely worked on principles he hadn't even been exposed to so he needed to find something simple that had been deemed forbidden for some other reason. He was also aware of his strengths and he knew he had way more chakra than any ninja, genin or otherwise, ought to have. His best option at the moment was to try and divine a technique that wasn't terribly difficult but used a ton of chakra.

His eyes quickly found the only technique in the scroll with less than five hand seals. His eyes widened as he read the name of the jutsu. The shadow clone technique. That sounded very, very promising. Clone techniques were covered to some degree at the academy during the instruction in the basic bunshin. If this was a solid clone technique, as he suspected, it could be revolutionary to his effectiveness as a ninja.

He grinned involuntarily at the scroll. Just too perfect. He suddenly frowned, as something dawned on him. There were no instructions. Intellectually he'd known that from the beginning but now that he was about to attempt the jutsu he was keenly aware of how difficult it was to go into a technique blind. Usually there was some sort of trick to molding the chakra outside of the seals used or there was an important reason why a certain amount of chakra was necessary and things could become dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing.

He gave an internal shrug of the shoulders. Got to risk big to win big! He'd always had a keen understanding of ninjutsu. The other would try and try to get a technique and Naruto would always be so sure of what was wrong. It was almost painful to watch the other's failure over and over again. As it was, that's how he'd been able to figure out the bunshin jutsu. The other had been throwing chakra at it wildly and getting one horrible clone. He hadn't understood what it was about the technique that controlled the number of copies generated. Once he was in control Naruto _had_ understood and used the bare minimum of chakra he could channel to create nearly fifty clones.

The scene in the classroom in mind he quickly formed the three hand seals and the clone seal shown in the scroll and channeled roughly that amount of chakra before releasing the technique. A poof of smoke appeared in front of him and he peered into it expectantly.

The clearing smoke revealed another Naruto, though he looked markedly less than well. He was kneeling on the ground with a look of twisted pain on his face. He reached toward Naruto pathetically before collapsing onto the ground in front of him.

The real Naruto stared at his failing counterpart in shock for a moment before the clone suddenly exploded back into smoke much more violently than he'd arrived. A minor concussive wave followed his disappearance knocking Naruto sprawling onto his back.

Naruto stared aghast into the fading smoke from his position on the ground. His head was suddenly filled with the memory of extreme pain and a sudden, disturbing end. While the memories he had apparently gained from the lost clone were extremely interesting in their origin, his mind was entirely hung up on their horrifying content.

What had he _done_ to that technique that it exploded like that? He must have overloaded it with chakra. He frowned internally as he stood. That had been the smallest amount of chakra he could channel. Fortunately for him the other techniques he knew were incapable of overloading and he was able to use them despite his awful chakra control. Kawarimi used the amount that was needed to make the switch, based on mass of target and distance, and any more was harmlessly wasted, expelled into the air. Henge was the same way, the transformation would take a certain amount of chakra, based on size changes and the like, and any additional chakra channeled was simply diffused.

Unfortunately for him, this technique didn't seem to work that way. He grit his teeth hard and formed the seals again. This time as he channeled his chakra he put all his willpower into reducing the amount until he felt he was channeling about enough to make only forty regular bunshin and only then released it.

Again a puff of smoke appeared and disappeared to reveal a clone. Again he was kneeling and suffering horribly. If possible he looked even worse for wear than the last one, nearly translucent around the edges.

Expecting another explosion, Naruto sprinted away from the clone intending to observe from a greater distance. He was not disappointed, as he heard the clone blow as he was running and stumbled hard. At that distance the concussive wave felt like a mere stiff breeze, but the assault of painful memories was just as raw as the first time. He sighed heavily and returned to his original spot. He stared miserably into the scroll and tried to divine why the technique refused to work.

His eyes lit up in inspiration. Maybe his problem with the _shadow_ clone technique was the same as the other's problem with the regular clone technique, the bunshin? He shook his head disappointedly, now sure he was right. How could he have misunderstood a problem he'd already experienced? Stupid, stupid.

Still shaking his head at his own stupidity he formed the seals again, concentrating on the work the chakra was doing. Intuitively he was able to sense what to change in order to get a different number of clones. He molded the chakra and released it, intending to create five clones.

He was greeted with a larger burst of smoke and his hopes rose. They were shortly dashed by what he saw within. Five barely discernible clones, so insubstantial they could hardly be seen, were laid out on the ground, seeming to be fighting to stay alive. As one they all gave up on that impossible goal and dispersed violently, much more quickly than the last two clones had. Naruto, completely unable to reduce his distance from them, was again flung onto his back.

When he rose his breathing was ragged as if he'd run all the way there from Kumo and his eyes were slightly glazed. Newly present in his memory were five sets of traumatic demises. Traumatic and extremely painful demises. After a few moments to collect himself he was able to fully rise to his feet.

Once there he cursed his stupidity. He'd seen the complete incorporeality of the five clones he'd created and all at once he'd understood his mistake. The clones _were_ solid bodied clones, as he'd hoped, and he hadn't been giving them enough chakra to even form properly. The backlashes were from the half-formed bodies of his clones exploding in his face when they couldn't become stable.

He grit his teeth harder than he had last time. That last set had _hurt_! He channeled five times as much chakra as he had the first time and tried the technique again, concentrating on forming a single clone. With another poof of smoke he was looking at himself. The two Naruto's exchanged grins. The original was about to ask the clone how it felt to be a clone when he suddenly struck himself across the head with the back of his fist. He then rubbed his head gingerly and gave the original a thumbs up.

It then dawned on him that the clone had been checking his own durability. He wondered why he hadn't come up with that on his own. With a sharp sense of realization he suddenly found it very strange that an exact copy of him _had_ come up with it independently of the original. Furthering the experiment but also eager to gain this particular clone's memories as he had the rest, Naruto walked up to his duplicate and punched him, much harder, in the stomach.

The double bent over about halfway before the trauma dispelled him. Naruto grimaced as he recalled being punched in the stomach by himself. Spooky. More importantly he recalled the fleeting feeling of fragility the clone had felt that led him to think of testing his own durability. Huh. So apparently just being a clone set his identical copy's mind in another direction. That was interesting.

Naruto sat heavily next to the scroll just trying to take in everything he had learned about the technique. Just as it was the skill seemed immensely useful. Even if the vast majority of his allies would dispel from a hard punch a five on one battle was far more than five times difficult than a one on one battle. There were simply a number of advantages that numbers bestowed on the side with the numerical advantage. And there were still so many nuances of the technique that remained untested. He'd tried varying amounts of chakra with wildly different results. Things on the low end didn't seem worth repeating but that minor concussive wave could actually be very useful in battle, now he thought about it.

He glanced around the clearing, somewhat surprised that Mizuki hadn't made an appearance yet. He'd expected the likely traitorous nin to show up before now. He wouldn't complain though. Each minute Mizuki wasn't there was a minute Naruto could use to experiment with the shadow clone technique. It was also a minute that the third could use to recover and send ninjas after him, allowing him to throw Mizuki under the bus, hopefully without Naruto having to fight him.

He grimaced internally. He was just now realizing that he'd taken a pretty huge risk agreeing to meet someone he thought was a traitorous ninja in a secluded clearing after knocking out the man capable of sending him reinforcements for who knew how long. Too late to worry about that now. He put the thought behind him and began to focus again on making clones. He wanted to discover the instability threshold for the replications.

A number of successful clones and violent backlashes later Naruto had found the exact minimum amount of chakra that would form a clone that didn't explode. Satisfied with another successful experiment Naruto began practicing the technique on the scale that would actually help him in battle.

He formed the seals and focused approximately five times the minimum amount for each clone plus a little extra for safety and released it, forming five healthy clones. He smiled at them happily. Unfortunately for him one of them gained a very uncomfortable look and began to stagger around. It was clearly becoming unstable. Fortunately it was close enough to the threshold that it was able to stagger away from the other clones before bursting, saving them from the small shock wave.

Naruto frowned and glanced at his hands, still in the clone seal. He really didn't see what had gone wrong that time. He'd molded the chakra just as he thought he should to create five clones, and it had pretty much worked. He could only theorize that with his lack of practice with the technique he was not able to equitably distribute the input chakra to his creations. He sighed. Well, he had the chakra to spare, may as well just overload the jutsu every time to be safe. At least until he had a chance to practice more. Mizuki could show up any time after all.

For the next hour Naruto worked tirelessly on gaining a mastery over summoning differing sized groups of clones. While he'd had success calling particular numbers at first, he found that as he increased the number he tried to summon the numbers would slip around. While reaching out for twenty five clones he would occasionally create twenty seven or twenty three. He could only assume that that too would get better with practice.

He'd also found, after dismissing a group of ten clones all at once, that receiving too many memories at once was extremely discombobulating and would start to give him a headache. He thereafter limited himself to dispersing five at a time.

After dismissing a group of fifty clones section by section Naruto sank to the ground in slight exhaustion. Even for a chakra freak like him, the huge numbers of clones he'd been making to practice the jutsu were getting to him. He could see why the jutsu wasn't normally taught. A normal genin with the traditional amount of chakra probably couldn't form a single shadow clone, they'd just get shock waves and chakra exhaustion. He'd found that the minimum amount of chakra that kept the clones stable was about what it took to form a hundred and twenty bunshin, much more than he'd ever seen any of his classmates create in one sitting.

"Uzumaki Naruto, just what the HELL do you think you're doing?!" Iruka yelled as he dropped into the clearing behind him.

"Iruka-sensei?!" the startled blond boy cried, turning abruptly to stare at the other's best teacher.

.oOo.

AN: I pretty much have planned stopping points for all the chapters I have thought out so far so I apologize for any variation in length. This one is a bit shorter than the first chapter, but it IS a lot longer than I thought it would be. Naruto's experimentation ended up taking a ton of words to communicate effectively. What Naruto has discovered so far is not, of course, the full abilities of the shadow clones, but he did figure out a lot. He is intended to be very intelligent, so not too crazy. See if you can guess which I think is the most crucial feature he missed this experimentation session. If you can tell me in a review I'll give you something good.

The many details surrounding the complex relationship between this Naruto, the 'other', and the kyūbi will come out in time, don't fret overmuch about it.

This one was a little early, sorry couldn't help myself! Next one will be in another two weeks but actually on Wednesday this time so more like sixteen days.


	3. Comic Relief Villain

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even that bastard Mizuki.

.oOo.

Naruto stood stock still over the scroll he'd pilfered, very surprised to see this academy instructor rather than the other. He wasn't given much more time to consider the matter before Iruka started in on him again. "Yeah, it's me, you little brat! What do you think you're _doing _stealing the forbidden scroll? Are you insane?!" Iruka continued angrily.

Naruto had had a lot of time to think of how to play this reaction. He hadn't thought he'd be performing for Iruka, but it made little difference to him practically. He'd been surprised, but he now let his face slip into the other's trademark foxy grin. "Come on Iruka-sensei, you must know about it too! I successfully stole the forbidden scroll and learned a jutsu from it! Now you gotta make me rookie of the year instead of that bastard Sasuke!" he said jubilantly.

Iruka gained a thunderstruck expression and sputtered a few moments before regaining the composure to answer. "Of all the ridiculous... Naruto who fed you that idea? The scroll is forbidden for a reason, we'd never use it for some kind of extra credit assignment, or whatever you think this is. If this is a prank, you are gonna be in for a hell of a lot of punishment!"

Naruto plastered a confused look on his face. "A prank...? No, Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei told me I could never be on a strong ninja team if I was the dead last. He told me I could do this rad secret mission and he could bump my rank up! Didn't you know about it? He said it was something they had for people like me who improved a lot on the final exam!"

Iruka's expression cycled from surprised to distrustful to disappointed in a matter of seconds. He looked conflicted though, as if he wasn't sure who he should be disappointed in. "Naruto, you're sure Mizuki put you up to this? Those could turn out to be some very serious accusations, if this is a pran-" Iruka had begun to speak, unsure in the extreme, but was cut off by a barrage of kunai that caught the edges of his clothes and pinned him to the shack behind him.

"Save your breath, Iruka. This is no prank. This is how I will become the most powerful shinobi in the land of fire!" Mizuki spoke, appearing on a tall branch where the kunai had originated, "That little brat is just a pawn, he's always been so naive. All I had to do was mention Sasuke's name and he was all hyped up and ready to do whatever I wanted!"

Naruto glanced between the two men. He hoped Mizuki was as powerful a ninja as he was smart. Otherwise, he might end up stuck out here alone to fight a crazed traitor.

As Naruto evaluated the situation Iruka struggled valiantly and was able to extricate himself from the snagging kunai in a matter of seconds. "Mizuki, what are you doing?! You've always been a model shinobi! Are you really going to throw away a long career for power?" he asked angrily feeling betrayed by one he'd worked hundreds of long hours beside in the academy.

Mizuki threw his head back and laughed, a cold, humorless sound. "You think I'm throwing anything away? These techniques will endow me with unimaginable power! This is a new beginning, you idiot! I'll leave this sad little village behind and become a true elite! First I have to tie up a couple loose ends though..." he trailed off coldly, taking one of two giant shuriken off his back and beginning to spin it rapidly.

Naruto stared at him disbelievingly. Was this man really going to try and monologue them to death? At this rate the Hokage's men would be here to reinforce Iruka long before they'd even begun to fight. The thing that really surprised him was that Iruka was going along with it. The man seemed to genuinely find nothing wrong with this situation in which treason was on the line, yet everyone was standing around discussing it.

"Naruto. Or should I call you demon?" Mizuki began, interrupting Naruto's thoughts, "You've been a vile little thorn in this village's side for twelve long years. Do you want to know why everyone hates you? Do you want to understand why you were such a sub par ninja for so long? It's because you're the kyūbi. The demon fox was sealed into _you_ by the fourth. He couldn't kill the beast so he made _you_ the new demon. People didn't like that, I hope you understand. No one wanted a demon in their town," he spit toward the other two ninja, the saliva hanging in the air quite some time as it traversed the great distance to the ground, "Me especially. So I made sure the new demon was weak. Oh, sure, you worked hard and became a little more fit... But you never could overcome those 'advanced' taijutsu forms I taught you, could you?" he asked mockingly, devolving into crazed laughter.

Naruto gritted his teeth. He had no need to fake the rage coloring his voice, making it tremor when he spoke. "You bastard! I-I'm not the fox! I would know if I was a d-demon!" he yelled.

Of course, he knew about the fox. Being a product of the great beast's meddling it was impossible for him to _not_ know of its existence inside of him. In fact, the drama with which Mizuki was infusing this moment was so unnecessary from his point of view that it _was_ actually a bit difficult to summon the familiar rage when the saboteur came to mind. It was nearly comedic Mizuki was playing his role as a traitor up so much.

"Ha, the demon thinks himself pure. What a joke. One day you'll destroy everything. Except... You won't. Because I'm ending you HERE AND NOW!" the traitor yelled, running forward on his branch and releasing his great ninja star with unimaginable force before somersaulting to the ground.

"Naruto, move!" Iruka shouted, concern clear even through his shout.

It wasn't really an issue though. Mizuki had been relying on Naruto being frozen by his revelations or some such nonsense. In reality Mizuki was on a tree more than fifty feet away and Naruto, hardly frozen in place, was easily able to kawarimi with a leaf on the other side of the clearing to avoid the thrown weapon.

Naruto stared at the ground in his new location, attempting to look angry beyond all words. After he had deemed an appropriately theatrical amount of time had passed he looked up and fixed Mizuki with a murderous glare. Two could play at the ridiculous showmanship game after all. "Iruka-sensei... Do you think I should show this traitor bastard the technique I learned from the forbidden scroll?" he shouted across the clearing, quickly flashing through the seals necessary for the shadow clone technique.

"Naruto, you can't! Mizuki may be a traitor but he's still a chūnin, he'll kill you!" Iruka shouted desperately in response.

Naruto sighed internally. Were all ninja always this dramatic? He glanced at Mizuki, who was clearly intending to wait and see what developed. What kind of arrogant prick watched his enemies conspire against him in the middle of a fight? Well, hopefully a show of force would end this ridiculous standoff. He found it rather hard to believe that Mizuki was a very talented ninja. Anyone who actually was wouldn't go after something so obvious as the forbidden scroll and they certainly wouldn't give their enemies so many opportunities. That's how a ninja ended up dead.

Still holding the clone seal from his prior remark Naruto gathered as much of his chakra as he could without wasting time and released it, focusing carefully on summoning two hundred and fifty clones.

With a plume of smoke like that of an exploding tag the entire clearing was suddenly lousy with Narutos. Iruka was completely swamped, but there was a five foot in diameter circle around Mizuki. "Hey, bastard," they all called in unison, maintaining the air of theatricality the fighters had developed, "we're a whole different breed from those illusions you saw during the exam."

The original reached out and punched one of the clones in the face, carefully modulating the blow to ensure the replication didn't dispel.

"What... What is this?!" Mizuki exclaimed wildly, backing up haphazardly into the edge of the circle of clones behind him. He screamed as he made contact and turned quickly, striking one of the clones with a weak reflexive blow, not managing to dispel it.

Seeing his complete inefficacy Mizuki screamed again, a piercing defeated noise, and fell to his knees, face going slack.

The Naruto swarm took that as its cue and fell upon him, beating the errant ninja to within an inch of his life before binding his hands and feet with a generous amount of regulation ninja wire.

His jaw hovering some place around his knees, Iruka surveyed the situation from his place among the crowd of clones. "You- He- So many clones..." he gave up trying to speak and hung his head taking a moment to regain his composure, "Naruto, I apologize for doubting you. I see that Mizuki was a traitor after all. God damn it, we worked so many long hours together... And around developing shinobi of the leaf! I'm sorry I never knew he was the reason your taijutsu was so bad. I regret it, but I always just thought you just didn't have a talent for the martial arts. I'm sorry."

Naruto was taken aback by the display of emotion, but he supposed he shouldn't have been really. He'd been there all those times the other had failed and Iruka had been there, supportive. They'd never had more than a particularly close teacher-student relationship, but Naruto still had a lot of good memories of Iruka. He gave the man a small genuine smile and dispelled all his clones so they could talk more easily. "It's not a big deal, sensei," he said, trying to redirect the conversation to something he was more comfortable with, "Everything worked out in the end. I even got to learn a new jutsu, even if I had to use it to beat up a former comrade."

Iruka flashed him his own smile. "Well I am sorry I can't make you the top rookie after witnessing that. With that technique you may be the strongest of your graduating class after all!" he said warmly.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, not really sure what to say in the face of such praise, "You think so, sensei?" he asked laughing slightly nervously.

It was harder to interact with the man when he _wasn't_ trying to put up a particular front. He'd watched the other interact with the man for years, but he was _not_ the other and he felt quite awkward attempting to imitate his mannerisms. In the end he felt he was coming across as a bizarre mix of the other and the person he was now. He sighed internally. The new technique was absolutely worth it but he wasn't sure where things were going to go from here. "I do, Naruto," he heard the man opposite him say sincerely as he was still lost in thought.

Naruto looked up from where he'd found himself staring at the ground. He found it much easier to slip back into a persona than to keep trying to have an actual conversation with the overly nice man. "So what happens now, Iruka-sensei? If Mizuki was a traitor and tricked me into stealing that scroll, what's gonna happen to me? I'm not gonna get in trouble am I?" he asked, letting a little fear color his voice.

Iruka took a look around the clearing, ostensibly to have some time to ponder the question. As far as Naruto could tell his eyes had alighted on the scroll, Mizuki's battered and bound body, and the shack full of kunai. "No, Naruto, I think you'll be okay. It's not a crime to listen to your teacher in Konoha," he finally said then sighed loudly, "The Hokage probably won't be thrilled to hear that we're down one chūnin, though. One more for Ibiki I guess."

Naruto didn't have a clue who Ibiki was, but he was glad to be sure he wouldn't be catching any sort of flak for the misadventure the scroll fiasco had turned out to be. He'd been relatively sure already, but playing the concerned genin to get the definite answer had seemed prudent. Iruka sighed again, after a few moments of silence. "This is just a very screwed up situation. Ah, but I'm being selfish. Naruto you get home and get to bed, you've got to be up early to meet your jōnin-sensei tomorrow. I'll get this straightened out with the third. You've had a lot of shocks today and it's really the least I can do. I do want you to know though. You're not the fox. I've taught you a long time, and you are the furthest thing from a demon in this whole village," he said warmly and emphatically.

Naruto couldn't hold back a small smile. He found it very awkward to talk to the man, and the bond between them felt somehow less real than between Iruka and the other, but it was still an appreciated sentiment. Even if he did often have to actually _listen_ to the fox's blather and was therefore fairly sure he wasn't secretly the fox himself. "Thanks Iruka-sensei. I'm glad that I know now. Before, people just glared and refused to have anything to do with me. At least now I know it isn't my fault," he said mournfully, trying to tell Iruka what he thought a distraught boy who'd just found out a devastating secret would say.

He had to admit that it was hard to conceptualize, having known about the kyūbi himself for years. Iruka seemed to appreciate the sentiment though, smiling sadly at Naruto as he finished speaking. "Things will get better Naruto, I'm sure of it. You have a lot of potential as a shinobi, and soon enough those people will recognize you," he said, flashing Naruto another of his warm smiles, "I wish we could talk more but I really should go straighten this out with the Hokage. Sleep well, and do your best tomorrow. You'll need everything you've got, with the jōnin sensei _you_ have."

Naruto's jaw fell open with a nearly audible clatter. None of the emotion in his next words was forced. "Iruka-sensei, you can't just _say_ something like that and not give any more information!" he shouted sounding almost scandalized.

Iruka didn't dignify his words with a response though and just smirked before exiting the clearing with a quick hand seal and shunshin.

Naruto scowled inwardly as he was left alone in the clearing. He couldn't stop the formation of a niggling hope that the technique Iruka had so casually used would be part of his team's jōnin-sensei's teaching plans.

.oOo.

AN: Another one down. Again, I apologize for the variations in length. This one is significantly shorter than the other two, but I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to happen in this chapter and I didn't want the next scene in with it. I for one always felt cheated by the Mizuki fight in the anime/manga. For a chūnin he goes down inexplicably easy, an unexpected jutsu shouldn't mean you get scared and fall on your ass, and I chose to keep to canon here, unnecessary drama and all. That's it for this time.

Sorry to be a little early again, though I guess you guys would actually prefer it sooner rather than later. I decided Saturdays were preferable to Wednesdays so far as posting. Next chapter in two more weeks, I really mean it this time.


	4. Suspicions

Disclaimer: I own nothing, though I really wish I had the Hokage's crystal ball. So many events I lack knowledge of...

.oOo.

Iruka's shunshin had taken him back to the edge of the woods, and from there he sprinted quickly to the Hokage's tower, scroll securely attached to his back. After leaving Naruto he'd realized that there would still be men out looking for the boy and some would be less than kind to him even if he was found returning to his home without the scroll.

Just as the large administrative building came into view so too did a large group of Konoha ninja and the Hokage. Iruka caught the last of the Hokage's words as he made his breakneck approach. "- traitor will be swiftly dealt with now the scroll has been secured. Thank you for your service, you may all return to bed. Ah, here is Umino-san now."

Iruka glanced between the disappearing ninja and the Hokage blankly, "You- Naruto- The scroll- How?" he muttered confused far beyond coherence.

The ancient leader smiled warmly at his subordinate. "A Hokage sees all that occurs in his village. Some things must simply play out the way they are intended to," he said sagacity oozing from every word.

Something about his superior's warm tone and knowing words calmed Iruka somewhat and he was able to present a proper front to a superior ninja. "Ah, of course Hokage-sama. I have a report on the incident that occurred. A traitor remains in a clearing less than a mile from here," he said dutifully, presenting the most urgent information first.

The older man sighed and made a hand-sign. A moment after a dark blur disappeared into the woods in the direction Iruka had just come from. Then the Hokage smiled and beckoned for him to follow into the tower. He led Iruka all the way to his personal office before he offered any reply to the other man. "Please, have a seat," he requested gently as he took up his customary position behind his large desk, pipe quickly held between his lips. "A verbal report please and only the most pertinent details. I have a suspicion this is a deeply important matter and while a Hokage may see all within his village, he does not have such powers of hearing," he offered cryptically as smoke began to curl out of his pipe.

Iruka, as a veteran chūnin of the leaf, was very used to the Hokage's way. The inspirational ninja truly didn't have to pretend to be wise, he just had that much more experience than anyone else. "Of course Hokage-sama. At approximately two-thirty in the morning I entered the clearing where Uzumaki fled after stealing the scroll. I confronted the boy, believing him to have acted of his own accord. He claimed Mizuki led him to believe he'd receive a boost in the class ranks if he successfully stole the scroll and learned something from it. I was doubtful, but Mizuki then entered the clearing as well pinning me to a shack with a number of kunai. He then declared his intent to commit treason before doing so, leaking the S-class information surrounding Uzumaki to the boy himself. Uzumaki avoided a windmill shuriken from the traitor with a kawarimi, before frightening him with an advanced solid clone technique Uzumaki claimed he had gained from the scroll. The fight was over as soon as Mizuki realized the clones were solid and was paralyzed by his fear of them. He was bound with ninja wire and left in the clearing after being heavily beaten by the clones of Uzumaki," Iruka presented, attempting to keep the report as concise as possible without being lax with any information.

The Hokage's face became grimmer and grimmer as the report progressed. "This is troubling news Umino-san. I am not pleased with the loss of a capable chūnin. I can only hope an interrogation reveals he was acting on his own. The punishment for the leaking of an S-class secret is death, of course. I will have to let Ibiki know where he is to be transferred after interrogation. Thank you Umino-san. Your report was concise and detailed. I have an additional request of you though."

"What is it, Hokage-sama?"

"I want you to tell me everything you've observed about Uzumaki Naruto today," the leader ordered gently.

"Hokage-sama?" Iruka questioned, confused at the shift and at the Hokage's knowledge.

"The boy has changed, you must agree. The Naruto we knew in the past could not form bunshins, he could not perform taijutsu, nor could he seem to keep a single thought in his head at a stretch. It is a blunt description, I know, but it is apt. As the protector of this village I must divine the reasons for the change and determine if they constitute a threat to the village. Again, harsh, but we must forever be mindful of the beast that makes its residence in the boy's seal. It should not be the sole basis for our decisions but it must inform them to some extent," the Hokage explained at length.

Iruka stifled his surprise this time. As wise as he'd always presumed the man to be, the extent of his knowledge still managed to shock him. He was also rather surprised the Hokage would entrust him with the thought process behind his question at all. "O-of course Hokage-sama," he began a little falteringly, still unsure of himself, "That's all true," he continued from there to explain each and every irregularity he'd identified along with Mizuki during the evaluations and the exam itself pausing at the end of his train of reasons to gather his thoughts further.

"I tried at the time to come up with any one thing would explain away all those changes, but I couldn't think of anything. Please tell me you have more insight than I do," Iruka finished questioningly.

The Hokage puffed on his pipe for a few long minutes contemplating the veritable flood of information he'd received about the son of arguably the village's greatest Hokage. He wanted to keep the boy safe, but not at the cost of the village. Based on what he heard, however, not even the one known as 'The Professor' had a theory in mind. "I'm sorry, Umino-san. Nothing comes to mind. It seems our friend Naruto has simply metamorphosed overnight. For now I don't believe we can act on our information in any way, especially considering all changes seem to be for the better. Hatake-san will be given orders to keep an extremely close eye on him and give weekly reports on any strange observations," he said shaking his head slowly.

He looked up after a brief period of silence and gave the much younger chūnin across from him a friendly smile. "How goes your work at the academy, lad? Do you imagine big things for this crop of graduates?" he asked congenially.

Iruka, sensing the shift in the conversation, allowed himself to relax and answer the question in the casual manner it had been posed."Very much so. So many clan heirs in one class? It's easy to pick teams I'd bet on to pass their true genin exams. I'd be surprised if most of them weren't jōnin by the time they're my age," he announced proudly.

The third smiled more broadly in return, and their conversation quickly devolved into other matters.

.oOo.

Naruto breathed out a deep, calming breath as he jogged out of the clearing and toward a more conventional training ground. He may have had a long night already, but he'd die before meeting his jōnin sensei without a better grasp on a show stopping technique like the shadow clone. As he ran he focused on the chakra left in his system. Now some time had passed he had well over half of his chakra at his command, but his best guess was that he had been down closer to half of his usual reserves after making the approximately seven hundred and fifty clones he'd made during his previous training session. So, he could make fifteen hundred clones in one non-protracted conflict, so long as he controlled his chakra enough to keep them near the border of stability. That was significant knowledge.

He was broken from his internal evaluation by his arrival at his destination, touching down in a clearing with six wooden posts along the western edge, a river flowing from the south to the north, just east of the middle, and a few very large trees throughout.

Training ground fourteen, the other's home away from home. Naruto preferred to distance himself from the other as much as possible, but he had hundreds if not thousands of memories of hard days working relentlessly to improve on jutsu that seemed impossible to perform or long hours of the suggested physical training exercises from the academy. Something about that led to an attachment and it felt odd to Naruto to seek any other location out for training.

Shaking his head to dispel any further unwanted deliberations, Naruto set to work. He'd hardly scratched the surface of the ideas he had about the shadow clone technique, and he was eager to test further theories. Focusing just a bit more than the bare bones amount of chakra that would sustain a clone, he quickly summoned a single double in the manner he'd become accustomed in the other clearing.

It was conveniently endowed with all the thoughts Naruto had had before creating it and had each of his theories already in mind as a result. Immediately the clone formed a few hand-seals and attempted the henge as Naruto had planned. The clone then shook his head, still looking entirely Naruto-ish. "I don't have any chakra to work with," he stated simply.

Naruto frowned deeply. It would greatly impact the utility of the clones if they could only serve as pure taijutsu/weapons support. "None at all?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically. No one could really survive without _any_ chakra after all.

"Well, I think I have enough for a few bunshin. Really it's the least I think we've ever had, what I have now. I'm pretty sure if I used any of it up I'd disperse," the clone answered helpfully.

Naruto had been expecting that answer and told the clone to dispel, gaining its memories. He shook his head. That really was a tiny amount of chakra. Probably close to the bare minimum required to sustain a physical body like that of the clones.

He concentrated a bit of chakra to his legs and sprung easily onto one of the training posts where he sat cross legged. He'd need to meditate on the conundrum.

Based on his experiments prior to being interrupted by Iruka and the memories he'd gained from all the experiment clones, he was fairly sure that all his creations had had that same amount of chakra. The memories from all his creations didn't focus primarily on how much chakra they had, as the memories from this most recent one did, but after examining them carefully he noticed the clones had a peripheral awareness of their identical tiny chakra reserves.

Which was quite the piece of information, considering each clone had been created using a variable amount of chakra, not even accounting for his terrible control. There had even been one test clone that was created with roughly three times the stability threshold, but still had tiny reserves.

He could only assume that the amount of chakra the clones could command was either static or determined by some part of the technique he'd been ignorant of in earlier attempts. He had to hope it was the latter, otherwise the technique would be far less useful.

He stood up on his post, jumped down, and slowly formed the hand-seals for the technique observing the way he molded the chakra carefully, hoping he'd be hit by some intui- There! He'd been focusing all the chakra that went into the technique during the first hand-seal. Based on his limited grasp of the subject from academy lessons he theorized that the first and second hand-seals were directing his chakra to form the clone's solid bodies, what seemed to be the first step to the technique, while the third hand-seal had no purpose he could divine. The final seal, the clone seal, obviously governed the appearance of the clones, making them actually appear to be copies of him.

He smirked to himself. If the puzzle had four pieces, seemed to work in every way except one, and three of the pieces are accounted for... He tried the technique once more, carefully applying the stability threshold amount of chakra twice. During the first two seals and again during the third.

He was rewarded with an ecstatic clone who quickly assumed the shape of Iruka just to prove he now could. He grinned involuntarily. Sometimes things just came easily. Those times were nice. He didn't have time to laud himself though. Even though he now felt he had a complete working knowledge of the technique, at least so far as how it operated, he still had a couple theories.

Without fanfare he concentrated approximately ten times the threshold amount of chakra solely into the first two seals. He was hoping the formation of the physical body of the clone was an adjustable process. More chakra making a sturdier body.

The new clone engaged him in a short spar which the original ended with an intentionally grazing kunai slash to the shoulder. This clone was surprisingly able to bleed for a few seconds before dispersing.

His theory proven, a happy Naruto spent the next half hour creating clones with amounts of chakra used in their creation ranging from double to fifty times the stability threshold. He found that the amount of chakra needed to strengthen the clones increased exponentially as the clones got stronger. To the point where the clone with ten times the normal amount really wasn't that much less durable than the clone with twenty times the normal amount.

Naruto sucked in air as he lay against one of the training posts breathing heavily. He'd used up nearly every last bit of chakra he'd had remaining testing his last theory fully. It was, of course, totally worth it though. Roughly ten times stability chakra to form the clone, five times that for its reserve. The possibilities of the 'perfect clone' he'd developed based on his results were endless and he could make a hundred of them before running out of chakra. Admittedly, the 'perfect clone' would be a lot more useful if he knew some jutsu that actually did anything, but he was sure the taijutsu support of the new, sturdier clones would still be invaluable in future battles.

He felt himself beginning to doze and violently quashed that reaction. It was quite late though and he was out of creative vision. He looked up with a groan. The sky was already beginning to brighten just the slightest bit. Resolving to at least practice the clone creation process more at a later date he ran for home, hoping to catch some shuteye before having to be up for the events of the next day.

.oOo.

AN: Yeah, not much to say about this one. The Hokage is a wise all-seeing (crystal ball anyone?) figure, and he has his suspicions about Naruto already. Naruto beefs up his jutsu a bit more with some experimenting before he meets his sensei. Wanted those scenes in there as a base for the next chapter which _will_ finally have the bell test and some serious action. You know, probably.

Next one in another couple weeks. Sorry about being a day off on this one. I got addicted to a show on Netflix and watched it all day yesterday. Split completely slipped my mind.


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